How to Pick a Great Guitar Teacher

For those looking to learn the guitar there are dozens of teachers available. And with the growth of the Internet there are an additional hundreds more who can come into your home with a boast of making you the next Eddie Van Halen. For great teachers like Tom Hess guitar teaching requires an unrelenting commitment to the success of the student. In his opinion, this type of commitment is one any student should look for in a teacher. Here are some other qualities a great guitar teacher will have:

Will always set High Expectations for a Student

A great teacher knows that that the expectations set for a student greatly affect that students confidence, work ethic and ultimately the achievements that student will have while under the teacher’s tutelage. It is a known fact that students will give as much or as little as the teacher expects of them. So your teacher should have high expectations of you and your playing.

Loves to Teach

A great teacher has a passion for teaching students on the instrument. You can feel this is the case in the way the teacher works with you and makes sure that you understand each part of a lesson no matter how long it takes or how many times you have to repeat the same areas of a lesson. Adapting to the speed of the student is part of teaching and a great teacher is happy to do this when it means great results in the end.

Has Great Respect for the Instrument

A great teacher will always show great care for his and your guitar. This instrument could one day support you and is currently probably paying the teacher’s bills, so it needs to be respected. If the teacher lays a guitar on the floor or at some awkward angle on a chair where it can fall, this is a sign that the teacher does not respect the instrument and this also probably extends to a lack of respect for you.

Is a Student Also

Great teachers are always learning about their teaching subject. The best stay keep learning because there is always more to learn and much of this new information contributes to making the teacher even greater. They bring these new things into the classroom. Perhaps they just discovered a new approach of soloing or even a new style of music to incorporate into your listening, that they learned while they were in class. Their constant learning makes you a better musician

Listens to You

Teachers often take on a student with an expectation of what will happen with that student’s abilities and skill level. And if those expectations are not met within a timeline, the teacher might become irritated with the student. All the while though the student has been telling the teacher or giving signs that the timeline will most likely not be met. When a student does not progress within a specific timeline there are usually several reasons, with some the fault of either teacher or student. Great teachers avoid this situation by placing and emphasis on listening as much as talking and taking into account all factors relating to the student’s progress.

Be selective and be thorough and you will find a great teacher who can help you to reach your playing potential.